This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 91 206921, filed May 15, 2002.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to fastening assemblies and, more particularly, to a fastening assembly that can be arranged within a space having a reduced profile to fixedly fasten two structures together.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the requirement for information access and processing is increased, information appliances particularly become more popular. xe2x80x9cInformation appliancesxe2x80x9d broadly embrace electronic devices that are provided with the functions of telecommunication and/or internet access.
A typical type of information appliance is the personal digital assistant (PDA). A PDA usually includes the functions of scheduler, event recording, telecommunication, electronic phonebook, etc.
As shown in FIG. 1, to fixedly fasten two plastics structures 100, 200 of the PDA, i.e., top and bottom covers of the PDA together, a traditional fastening assembly uses a threaded insert nut 400 that is securely accommodated within a boss 210, provided on one plastics structure 200, via ultrasonic welding. The insert nut 400 is externally formed with grooves to enhance its fastening effect to the boss 210. The two plastics structures 100, 200 are fixedly attached to each other by a screw 300 extending through a hole 110 of the plastics structure 100 and threadedly engaging in the insert nut 400.
With the above traditional fastening assembly, the fastening of the insert nut 400 within the boss 210 can be effectively achieved only at the condition that a required minimum height of the boss 210 is satisfied. If the height is insufficient, the insert nut 400 can not be fixedly attached within the boss 210, which results in that the screw 300 and the insert nut 400 cannot have a secure engagement therebetween and the plastics structures 100, 200 can not be fastened securely together.
Since the size of the PDA is increasingly reduced as miniaturization techniques are developed, lower profile is available for the disposition of the fastening assembly. The traditional fastening assembly as described above therefore becomes an obstacle to further size reduction.
An aspect of the invention is therefore to provide a fastening assembly that can fasten two structures (for example, top and bottom covers) of an electronic device (for example, a PDA) together without the need of a boss element so that the mount height needed by the fastening assembly is reduced, thereby enabling the electronic device to have a compact design.
To accomplish the above and other objectives, the invention provides a fastening assembly that is used for fixedly fastening a first and a second structure of an electronic device together. The electronic device has a low profile. The first structure is provided with a hole. The fastening assembly comprises an anchoring block, an insert plate, and a screw. The anchoring block, fixedly arranged on the second structure, includes upper and lower parallel, horizontally-extending holding flanges and two parallel, vertically-extending protruding ribs. The upper holding flange further includes a slot. The protruding ribs extend approximately perpendicular to the holding flanges on two sides thereof. The insert plate, formed from an approximately flat plate, is fixedly held between the holding flanges and is further provided with a threaded hole and a pair of hooked clamping members. The threaded hole is placed correspondingly to the slot of the upper holding flange, and each hooked clamping member tightly clamps one protruding rib to fasten the insert plate with the anchoring block. The screw extends through the hole of the first structure and the slot of the upper holding flange to threadedly engage in the threaded hole of the insert plate to thereby securely fasten the first and second structures together.
In accordance with the above and other objectives, the attachment of the insert plate to the anchoring block is further secured according to various manners such as ultrasonic welding, adhesion or insert molding.
The above fastening assembly is dimensionally adaptable in accordance with the mount height available within the device meanwhile ensuring an effective fastening of the two structures.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.